Deliberations Begin in Trial of Man Who Killed Former Boss

Mikhail Khaimchayev was so mentally unstable that he acted on a rash impulse when he shot his former boss two years ago, his defense attorney argued Wednesday.

“This was an explosion of anger, frustration and venom, all misdirected toward a person who didn’t deserve it,” said Deputy Public Defender Howard Asher, who urged jurors Wednesday to consider a second-degree murder conviction.

But in closing remarks, a prosecutor said that Khaimchayev should be convicted of the more serious charge of first-degree murder because he carefully planned the Jan. 13, 1999, shooting.

“He went in there for one purpose,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert. “It wasn’t to ask for his job back. It was to kill Sheldon Snyder.”

Jurors began deliberations after closing arguments concluded. During the weeklong trial, witnesses recounted the day Khaimchayev, a former computer programmer, strode into their Camarillo office, shot Snyder nine times and then wounded himself. Snyder was the co-owner of Postal Innovations, the Camarillo computer software company where Khaimchayev worked until he was fired in June 1998.

Khaimchayev told two employees and a detective immediately after the shooting that he killed Snyder because he wouldn’t give him work, witnesses testified.

If convicted of first-degree murder, the 31-year-old Uzbek immigrant faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison. If convicted of second-degree murder, he could receive a sentence of 40 years to life.

Khaimchayev was diagnosed in July 1999 as psychotic and deemed incompetent to stand trial. But after a year of treatment in a mental hospital, doctors said he was capable of understanding court proceedings.

Calvert said Wednesday that everything Khaimchayev did points to first-degree murder, which requires deliberation and premeditation. He bought a 9-millimeter gun in August 1998, two months after being fired, and then bought bullets in November. On the day of the shooting, he called to make sure Snyder was in the office before driving up from his Hollywood home.

“That shows he had a plan,” Calvert said. “That shows it was thought out beforehand.”

When he arrived, he hid the gun in a blue plastic bag, Calvert said. He discarded the bag on the steps, strode by the receptionist and gunned down Snyder, the prosecutor said. Calvert said Khaimchayev’s motive for killing Synder was that he had been fired before his three-month probationary period was over.

In a letter written in Russian found in Khaimchayev’s pocket, he wrote that his bosses had “unceremoniously” broken his contract and had ruined his life in America.

“This is an ultimate step, but I have no way out,” he wrote. “I am in a vicious circle.”

Calvert said the letter wasn’t a quickly jotted note, but rather a declaration of intent. Khaimchayev’s decision to shoot Snyder was “cold and calculated,” the prosecutor said.

Asher acknowledged that his client planned the shooting, but said Khaimchayev lacked the rational thought process necessary to meet the legal definition of premeditation. He cited the testimony of a psychologist who said Khaimchayev was anxious, depressed and had symptoms of psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder. That psychologist said the defendant couldn’t separate fantasy from reality and considered his boss the “embodiment of evil.”

Asher said his client could not cope with being unemployed and unable to take care of his parents, both of whom suffered from schizophrenia. He also overvalued his own worth, believing that he had excellent computer and English language skills, Asher said.

So when Khaimchayev lost his job at Postal Innovations, he couldn’t understand why, his attorney argued.

“That, for most rational people, does not mean the end of the world,” Asher said. “To Mikhail Khaimchayev, it did.”

Asher said the letter Khaimchayev wrote was another example of his mental problems, because it was illogical and irrational, expressing his desire to punish Snyder.

“Normal people don’t think this way,” the attorney said. “Mr. Khaimchayev is anything but normal.”